Swimming pool



Dec. 1 1925.

F. E. HARTMA N SWMMING POOL 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 222',r 1922 J1/ven Tow FZECHarnan,

W1 :was ses attentati Dec. 1| 1925 1,563,850

F. E. HARTMAN SWIMMING POOL Filed April 2 2, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FEHarfmw,

F. E. HARTMAN Dec. 1 1925' SWIMMING POOL 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 `Filed April 2 2, 1922 nue'n l'ow 1 lV/rNEsaEs."

Patented Dec. l, 1925.

FRANK E. HARTMAN, OF SCOTTDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ELECTRIG WATER STERILIZER AND OZONE COM CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

PANY1 0F SCOTTDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A.

SWIMMING POOL.

Application led April 22, 1922. Serial N0. 556,050.

To all whom t may concern:

v Be it known that I, FRANK E. HARTMAN. citizen o-f the United States, residing at Scottdale, in the county of VVestmor-elland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Swimming Pools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved circulating apparatus for swimming pools or tanks of the type usually constituting a part of the equipment of athletic institutions, gymnasiums, community centers or other more or less public bathing places.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a simple and practical circulating apparatus for swimmingr pools and the like whereby reused purified water may be supplied at the bottom of the pool while the used water may be removed from the'top, thereby obtaining effective distribution of the fresh water to keep the temperature of the tank uniform throughout and also removing the impurities fioating upon the surface of the water or held in suspension by the upper and lighter strata of the water.

`A further object of the invention is to provide means for automatically replenishing the water used in the circulating system thereby to maintain the same of maximum efciency at all times without manual attention if the apparatus has been once set in motion. In that connection the invention aims to provide a device that acts more or less as a pilot for contro-ling the supply of fresh water when conditions reduire.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple, practical and reliable means for straining or separating the water in its progress through the circuit thereby removing solid o-r other floating matter. That is to say the invention a novel device that arrests or collects and automatically disposes of solid matter in a practical and efficient manner.

`With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

proposes to provide A preferred and practical embodiment of As previously indicated the present in vention aims to provide a Swimmingpool having a novel circulating and system which reuses the water in the pool in a most economical manner and yet at the same time maintains a high standard of purity therefor.

Heretofore, it has been the general practice to supply the fresh water at the top and to withdraw the used water from the pool at the bottom. This practice tends to only dilute instead of thoroughly cleanse the surface water and'is obviously objectionable. As bathers are in Contact with the surface Water more frequently than at deeper levels,v

and the upper strata of water become more quickly contaminated than the lower strata it is important that the surface Water be maintained at the highest possible degree of purity.

Also since thewater in the tank requires heating'during the greater portion of each year, when this Warm water is introduced at the top it tends to remain on the surface and forms strata of warm and cold water. This practice therefore approaches a condition of stagnation because no definite stream lines can be established from the surface of the water to the point of exit at the bottom. Under conditions such as this bacteria introduced. into the pool of water by the bathers will remain in suspension and multiply. To depend entirely upon the rise of Water in the tank due to a sufficient number of bathers entering the pool to discharge this bacteria or foreign matter into the so-called overflow is not practical or feasible. Therefore, it will be under- Ito .purifying stood that where no denite and positive means of circulating the water in the tank is provided, dangerous conditions are likely to result.

In installations where purification is attempted by displacing used water with fresh water, the water which goes to waste over the overflow trough makes a considerable total loss when it is observed that in some cases the average loss at this point amounts to 10 inches of water per day, totaling anywhere from one to two million allons of water per year. Obviously, therefore, from an economical standpoint systems which provide for replacing with fresh water the used water which goes to waste is very costly.

The present apparatus is intended to overcome the objections above'sct forth and to that end itis proposed to equip the pool A with a novel circulating system which includes a sump device B for receiving the overow water from the pool A and also controlling the supply of fresh water from the line C to the system. That is to say, the sump device B is provided with a float valve device to be hereinafter more fully referred to which automatically operates when the level of water in the sump falls below a predetermined point to admit fresh water into the system to fully maintain the liquid capacity of the system and prevent the pump device D from sucking air.

After the pump device D removes the water from the sump B it may be passed through the filter device E, heater F and ozonizer G, which latter includes a generator H for providing ozone and a mixer I for thoroughly treating the water with ozone.

In its general aspect therefore the present invention includes the pool A which is equipped with a circulating system maintained at full capacity by the sump device B and which includes suitable piping for feeding the purified water at the bottom of the tank while the used water is removed from the top. i

Referring now more particularly to the details of construction it will be observed that the pool or tank A is formed with a bottom and surrounding walls 6, formed Q with an overflow trough 7 for the surface water of the tank. This trough surrounds the tank and is inclined to direct the overflow water to a common discharge outlet 8, and from this outlet, the overflow water is carried through a pipe 9 into the sump B. Extending below the bottom of the tank and preferably arranged centrally of the tank is a warm water feed pipe 10 which communicates with the bottom of the tank at a plurality of points by means of inlet pipes 11, thereby distributing Athe warm water effectively upwardly and outwardly throughout the pool.

A drain outlet 12 may be provided in the bottoni of the tank and connected to the sewer'to permit of the entire contents to be removed when necessary.

The sump B, which receives the overflow water, consists of a chamber provided with a partition or wall 13 having a strainer 14. for removing the foreign matter brought with the overflow water from the tank. The said strainer 14 is placed in the inclined front section 13a of the wall beneath the lower end of the pipe 9, said pipe having a horizontal discharge opening 9a which directs the water against the inclined strainer so that floating matter, i. e., solid matter held in suspension will be caught by the strainer immediately upon issuing from the delivery pipe 9 and will be washed over the edge of the wall 13 by the force of the water, and onto the rearwardly inclining section 15 of the wall 13, which slopes in the opposite direction from the section carrying the strainer. This section 15- is imperforate and joins the vertical portion 16 having openings 16a of the partition to form the trap T having the outlet passage 17. Thus foreign matter which has been washed from the crest 18 formed between the inclined sections 13Il and 15 will be carried downwardly on the imperforate portion of the partition, and thence into the trap T from which it can be removed through passages 17 by the water that splashes over the crest 18 and also flows out through the opening 16a.

The raw` water supply or pipe C communicates with the interior of the sump B at a point under the wall 13, as indicated by the numeral 19. This main water inlet pipe is controlled by a oat valve 20 located within the sump, as will presently appear.

The pump D operates to pump the water from the sump through a pipe 21 to the filter E, from whence the water is circulated through a pipe 22 to the heater F, and from the heater F the warm water is circulated through a pipe 23 to the upper end of the ozo'nizer G. The filter E, heater F and ozonizer G are all more or less diagrammatically shown.

The heated water is then mixed with ozone in the mixer I and the mixture is then circulated through a discharge pipe 24 into the warm water feed pipe 10 previously described.

From the foregoing it will be observed that when the tank is to be filled with water, the pump D will be operatedl to exhaust the contents of the sump thereby causing the float valve 2O to be lowered and thereby let in the raw water. When the pool A is filled, water will overflow into trough 7 and then proceed to the sump. When the water -reaches a predetermined level in the sump,

the float valve 20 shuts off the raw water. If thewater level in the tank tends to drop either from evaporation or by the water being carried away by the bathers, ,the valve 20 will be automatically opened anda sufficient amount of raw water will be received to automatically and constantly maintain the water in the tank at its peak so that there is a constant overflowing of the surface water back into the sump. Inasmuch as the trough 7 surrounds the tank, the surface water is constantly .moving outwardly in alldirections. By reason of the fact that the warm water is introduced at a plurality of points at the bottom of the ytank, said water will naturally rise to the surface and thereby set up stream lines running from the bottom to the top of the Water. Furthermore because the inlet pipes 11 are arranged in spaced relation, a plurality of these stream lines in different posit-ions.of the tank will be created and all floating matter held in suspension in any part of the water in the tank will be carried upwardly to the surface and consequently this surface water, together with the suspended forelgn matter, will be carried off through the trough 7 to the sump.

The trap in the sump then serves to separate the foreign matter carried' by the overflow water from said water andmdischarge said foreign matter through the outlet 17, the separated water entering the sump, and being subsequently pumped through the filter E where any further impurities or foreign matter will be removed, thence through the heater F and thence through the ozonizer G and back to the bottom of the tank.

It will, therefore, be 'seen that the overfiow water is used overand over again, and that the ozonizer purifies the water prior to its entrance into the tank.

It will furthermore be noted that the automatic fioat valve 20 of the sump serves to prevent the water level of the sump from falling below a predetermined point, and` struction may be resorted to without departing from the `spirit of the invention or scope ofthe appended claims.

yI claim:

1. A circulating system for swimming 2. In a circulating system for swimming pools, an overflow gutter, a sump device including an inclined strainer,- and a Vconduit leading from said gutter and discharging onto said inclined strainer of the sump device.

3. In a circulating system for swimming pools, an overflow gutter for removing surface water, a. sump device including a strainer and a trap at one side thereof and means for conveying water from the overflow gutter onto the'strainer vwhereby foreign matter will be separated and Washed over into the trap.

4. In a circulating system for furnishing purified water to swimming pools, an overflow gutter surrounding the pool, a sump device including a strainer and a solid matter trap, means for directing surface water from the overflow gutter onto the strainer, apump connected with said sump, and heating and purifying instrumentalities for receiving water from said pump, and piping means for feeding said purified water to the bottom of the tank.

5. A circulating system for swimming pools, including an overflow gutter for removing the surface water and o-ating foreign matter, a sum device in piped communication with sai overflow gutter including a strainer and a solid matter trap, and means for returning the 'overflow water to the pool.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my 

